Saturday, February 18, 2012

Coogs Stun Blue Hens, Win On Opening Day


A dense mist settled over Cougar Field during the last half of this afternoon's game between the Houston Cougars and the Delaware Blue Hens. It was a mist that perfectly exemplified the Coogs game up until that moment, and by the middle of the eighth inning, the Cougars were trailing 5-0 in a game they looked destined to lose.

Then Taylor White led off with a double.  Landon Appling thought he got hit by a pitch, but didn't.  And thought he struck out, it appeared to light a fire under the Coogs.  Before the inning was over the Cougars were leading 7-5 and had scored a run in about every manner possible but for the home run.  The seventh run crossed the base from second base on a suicide squeeze -- yes, that's right, a suicide squeeze.

"It was really frustrating the first part of the game," close Mo Wiley said of the first two-thirds of the game.  "Things just weren’t going our way."

But when things did start going the UH way, they went the UH way.

"We were sleep walking through the first seven innings," head coach Todd Whitting said.  "We weren’t making any adjustments at the plate.  We had hit two balls on the ground, on a wet day on a wet field in seven innings.  I think [Appling getting hit and the ump not giving us the base] got us jump started a little bit.  It kind of woke up our dugout."

It's only one game.  One game where the Coogs came back to score seven runs in the bottom of the eighth to get the 7-5 win.  But it was Opening Day.  And a win on Opening Day is always a beautiful thing, even on a miserable rainy day like today.

The Cougars still have one more game to play tonight, and wow, does it look a whole lot nicer outside.

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